No Charges To Be Filed In Police Shooting Of Stamford Woman Near Capitol

No Charges To Be Filed In Police Shooting Of Stamford Woman Near Capitol

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Satellite trucks line Washington Boulevard in Stamford on Oct. 4 as officials investigate the shooting death of a Stamford woman by Capitol Police. Investigators were searching her home for evidence in the case. Photo Credit: File

STAMFORD, Conn. – There is insufficient evidence to pursue federal criminal civil rights or local charges against officers involved in the fatal shooting of Miriam Carey of Stamford last fall just blocks from the U.S. Capitol, the U.S. attorney’s office for the District of Columbia announced Thursday.

The U.S. attorney’s office and the Metropolitan Police Department conducted the investigation into the shooting of death Carey on Oct. 3, 2013, involving the U.S. Secret Service and U.S. Capitol Police.

The review included interviews of more than 60 witnesses and review of all crime scene evidence, ballistics reports, video footage, photographs, the autopsy report, and more.

The U.S. attorney’s office then concluded the evidence was insufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the officers used excessive force or possessed the requisite criminal intent at the time of the events.

The chain of events took place Thursday, Oct. 3, 2013, between 2:13 and 2:20 p.m., when Carey, 34, a resident of Stamford, confronted officers in her car at three locations – one at the White House and two near the Capitol, according to a statement from the U.S. attorney's office.

At 2:13 p.m., Carey drove into a White House checkpoint without authorization and without stopping. After Carey refused to stop, an off-duty U.S. Secret Service officer placed a metal bike rack to block her pat. She then struck the bike rack, knocking it and the officer to the ground.

She then drove down Pennsylvania Avenue at 40 to 80 mph and arrived four minutes later at Garfield Circle in front of the U.S. Capitol. She drove into the circle going against the flow of traffic, then turned her vehicle. Pursuing law enforcement officers blocked Carey’s exit from her vehicle, attempted to open her locked doors, and issued multiple commands for her to exit the vehicle. Carey then put her vehicle in reverse and rammed the marked cruiser behind her vehicle.

She then drove forward onto the sidewalk, forcing officers to run out of her path. Two U.S. Secret Service police officers and a U.S. Capitol Police officer fired eight rounds at Carey. Investigators do not believe that she was hit. Carey then drove back around Garfield Circle and headed toward Constitution Avenue.

The U.S. Capitol, the U.S. Supreme Court, and other buildings within the Capitol square were put on lockdown in response to the “shots fired” report.

Carey arrived at the manned U.S. Capitol Police Truck Interdiction Point at 2nd Street and Maryland Avenue NE. With raised barriers blocking her path, Carey made a sharp left, drove up a curb, over the center median, and struck an unmarked Supreme Court police officer’s vehicle.

After ignoring multiple commands from officers running toward her vehicle with guns drawn, Carey revved her engine and then reversed her vehicle and drove directly at a U.S. Capitol Police officer.

As the U.S. Capitol Police officer ran toward the median to avoid being struck, he and another officer from the U.S. Secret Service started firing. The two officers fired nine rounds each. Her vehicle then crashed into the kiosk and came to rest.

Officers then discovered a young child in the vehicle who was not seriously injured and was taken to a hospital.

Medical personnel attempted to revive Carey. She was transported to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Carey sustained five gunshot wounds to her neck and torso area, one of which was fatal. She was not under the influence of illegal drugs or alcohol, and no weapon was recovered from inside her vehicle.